Man arraigned in vandalism of Coptic Church in Charlton

Monday

Dec 10, 2012 at 9:00 PMDec 10, 2012 at 9:25 PM

By Brian Lee TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

A 19-year-old man allegedly went on a vandalism and burglary spree at an Arabic Christian church, drawing a mustache, marijuana cigarette and swastika alongside the phrase “Satan Smoke Weed” on a chapel.

Zachary Yurasha, with a last known address of 44 Cohasse St., pleaded not guilty today in Dudley District Court to breaking and entering into a building during the nighttime for a felony, malicious destruction of property valued at more than $250, larceny from a building and causing more than $5,000 in damage to a church.

Mr. Yurasha, who was arrested on a warrant, was ordered held on $250 bail and is to return to court Jan. 7 for a pretrial hearing.

A police report said Mr. Yurasha's fingerprints were on a window used as a point of entry into the Holy Virgin Mary Spiritual Vineyard (Coptic Church) at 74 Gould Road. His prints were also on a damaged light fixture, police said.

Mr. Yurasha is not a member of the Coptic Church, police said.

On Nov. 15, Patrolman Steven K. Madelle and Detective Gary E. Wood went to the church on a report of vandalism and larceny from the property.

A church groundskeeper said two chapels on the property had been entered and vandalized and items were missing.

The “smoke weed” desecration occurred at the chapel of St. Moses the Black, which had not been locked, the detective said.

In addition, the suspect got on the roof of the middle of three gazebos used as meditation areas. A cross and cupola lay shattered on the ground. Some of the gazebo's insect screening was slashed, police said.

The burglar had removed two crosses from a third chapel called, Shrine of St. Antonius & St. Paula. Located on a hillside on the north end of the property, this chapel had been locked and entry had been forced through a window. A screen had been cut from the frame and thrown to the ground, police said.

Once inside the chapel, the suspect upset a lectern containing books. Pages were torn out. He also defaced images of Christ by pouring liquid soap on them. The suspect also splashed olive oil on the wall behind the altar and broke wooden crosses off objects and took them, police said.

The burglar also took a chalice, spoon and a box containing a cross, all made of silver, and an Arabic Bible, police said.

Later that night, the groundskeeper, worried that the vandal would return, gave a key to police for night patrols.

The next day, additional damage was discovered by the groundskeeper, police said.

A light illuminating the cross on the hill had been broken and the words “Satan” and “God Is Dead” were carved on the front of the cross. “God is Dead” was carved onto the rear of the cross. The eyes of the Virgin Mary had been gouged out, police said.

An inverted pentagram was drawn on the forehead of the mosaic of the Christ child. An expletive was carved into a wooden post adjacent to the mosaic.

At St. Mary's Vineyard, Detective Wood said, he processed the housing of the light fixture and developed valuable latent fingerprints.

Days later the detective received another call from the groundskeeper concerning vandalism.

A pile of stones had been placed and stacked in a brick walkway. A section of picket fence had been removed and was formed in a tic-tac-toe design on the deck of the gazebo that housed the vandalized mosaic, police said.

The church's concerns were earlier raised by a hand-painted banner found on North Sturbridge Road two to three years ago, investigators said. Written in Arabic, its translation read, “God is dead.”

Detective Thomas Coakley of the Worcester Police, who is assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force, was contacted, the report said. Worcester authorities submitted the fingerprint evidence to Automated Fingerprint Identification System and identified Mr. Yurasha as the suspect, the report said.

The report said the FBI was contacted because of the possibility of a hate crime.